Women TechEU 2 EIC

Objectif

The main objective is to create a targeted programme of support for women founders and entrepreneurs leading deep tech start-ups from Europe to grow into tomorrow’s tech leaders and to put women at the forefront of deep tech in Europe.

Critères d'éligibilité

Here are the key definitions that guide the selection of beneficiaries:

1. The founder or co-founder must be the woman and will (if selected) participate in the programme. We consider a woman co-founder if she acquired shares from the company within one year from the date of registration of the company.

2. Women leadership: Women legally recognised as founders or co-founders of the company (see above). The founder or co-founder of the company must also currently hold a top management position (CEO, CTO, CSO or equivalent) within the same company. It will be also required that women hold at least 25% of the shares in the CAP table (capitalisation table) of the company.

3. Established country: the applicant must be established in an EU Member State and their outermost regions or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

4. Early-stage startup:
• The legal entity must be registered for a minimum of six months and a maximum of five years at the time of the eligibility cut-off date they are submitting for.
• Under Horizon Europe, a 'startup' should be understood as an SME in the early stage of its life cycle, including spin-offs which aim to find innovative solutions and scalable business models, and which are autonomous.

5.Deep tech: Deep tech innovation aims to provide concrete solutions to our societal problems by finding its source in a deep interaction with the most recent scientific and technological advances and by seeking to produce a profound impact in the targeted application areas.
If your deep tech innovation includes AI, please note that the stage of development of your AI will be the determining factor of whether you are eligible or not for the Women TechEU programme. There are 7 stages identified as follows:
a. Concept development
b. Dataset collection
c. Algorithm development
d. AI model development
e. Training of AI model with dataset
f. Testing / piloting of trained AI model
g. Refinement of AI model post testing / piloting

Choosing stages (a), (b) or (c) will make your application ineligible as this would mean that you are still too early in the actual AI development.

Technologies clés

o Advanced connectivity, navigation and digital technologies
o Advanced materials, manufacturing and recycling technologies
o Advanced sensing technologies
o AI technologies
o Biotechnologies
o Energy technologies
o Quantum technologies
o Robotics and autonomous systems
o Space and propulsion technologies.

Typologie de consortium

Women TechEU is designed to help women-led deep tech startups accelerate their growth through a tailored combination of funding, mentoring, training, visibility, and community support. Beyond the €75,000 equity-free grant, our awardees will gain access to a personalised business development programme designed to strengthen leadership, investment readiness, and market expansion.

All services are adapted to the specific growth stage and needs of each startup, and delivered to the different cohorts thanks to our consortium partners, associated partners and allies. The following is a list of all the different services available as part of our programme:
- Tailored Mentorship by Women, for Women: through tailored mentoring sessions, participants will receive strategic guidance, practical advice, and ongoing support to help them navigate critical business decisions and accelerate growth.
- Investor & Export Readiness: preparing for fundraising and international growth opportunities.
- CEO Skills & Leadership Development: dedicated training on essential entrepreneurial and leadership skills, including public speaking, communication, negotiation, presentation techniques, and leadership development.
- Sales Strategies & Go-to-Market Support: practical support to strengthen their go-to-market strategies, sales pipelines, pricing models, and customer engagement approaches.
- Environmental Impact Assessment: through a dedicated environmental impact assessment service, startups will gain access to tools and expert support to evaluate the climate and sustainability impact of their innovations using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based methodologies.
- Access to High-Impact European Events: gain visibility and business development opportunities through opportunities for participation in major European innovation and startup events, MIT Review Greece (via KTM), EU-Startups Summit (Malta).
- Local Chapters & Alumni Community: network of at least 10 local chapters across Europe, with a particular focus on Widening countries.
- Perks Programme & Community Benefits: exclusive perks programme offering significant discounts and free services from leading technology and business providers.